Lighting for seedlings.

[JamesL]

Augie,
Good luck! Hope it goes well.
Take a look at the cold treatment thread by Ami for when the time comes in the spring.
I did it this season and the plants started the season awesomely.
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=13171

"Tomato plants properly exposed to a cold treatment develop large cotyledons and thick stems, with fewer leaves formed before the first flower cluster, up to double the number of flowers in the first, and often the second clusters, and higher early and total yields."

[augiedog55]

James, Thanks for all the links. I was going to grow my seedlings in the heated laundry room this spring but after reading tis i might put them in the garage and close the register and see what happens. Thanks also to dar jones for the tip on letting the seedlings dry out almost to drooping before watering.
I did just get back from hp and i ended up getting the heavy duty 4 bulb shop light. They were proud of it. ouch...lol. I got 2 t8 daylight deluxes bulbs and 2 cool whites bulbs and i will aternated them in the fixture.
Again I thank you guys for all your help.
Bruce

[augiedog55]

Update. I got my all 5 of my practice seedlings up and have already potted them up once. Potting up was the part I thought might be my down fall. It wasn't that bad seperating the roots and replanting in a 16 oz. cup. So far things are good. Their was no plant shock that i noticed
I'm hoping to try this one more time before spring when I do it for real. I don't want any mistakes for my garden plants

[Baizanator]

Can someone recommend a good one?

I have a Burpee 24 inch light with 20-watt wide-spectrum bulbs. My seedlings have been leggy and I think that poor lighting may have to do with it.

[meadowyck]

Baizanator, keep your light closer to the seedlings, as the far away the light the more the seedlings stretch to reach it which in turn results in leggy plants, at least this was my past experience until I really started keeping the lights an 1" above my plants.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by meadowyck

Baizanator, keep your light closer to the seedlings, as the far away the light the more the seedlings stretch to reach it which in turn results in leggy plants, at least this was my past experience until I really started keeping the lights an 1" above my plants.

Well, I tried that and the plants had yellowed leaves. I've just considered ordering a different light as 24 inches is really too small for me anyways.

[Cole_Robbie]

I would say to just make some fixtures like I mentioned on the previous page. They're cheap.

Leggy seedlings can also be caused by not having enough air movement around them. They need to be dancing in a gentle breeze all the time. That strengthens the stems and helps prevent legginess.

[meadowyck]

yep forgot to add the air movement, sorry I was trying to answer before we were leaving the house, I went to wally world and picked up a small 5.00 fan that sits by my seedlings.

Although this year I'm starting everything outside so we will see onces the seeds sprout how they do with just the sunlight and no lights and we do have enough wind to help.

[Hotwired]

Augiedog55 ... I use Florescent Daylight Bulbs. They are ideal for seedlings. Keep the lamp within 12" of the top of your seedlings. I start 2000-3000 plants each year. I don't have deep pockets but get professional results. Here's my methods.
http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/G...d_starting.pdf

Hotwired
http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdfs.html

[eddie46]

Thanks great information. I made a small portable green house on wheels (4x5). As soon as they get their first set of true leaves they go out to the green house. I have a small ceremac heater for day use and an automatic top opener if temp gets too high. Roll the little house in the garage at night if temp is approaching 32f. No need to harden off. I can grow 100 toms to 18" with this little portable green house.
Forgot to mention I used cement board for floor so I can water roots up keeping plants dry. My friends call it Ed's shark tank. Ed

[JamesL]

Ed,
That is a great idea. I would love to see a picture of it.

[Hotwired]

Shop lights work fine, but make sure they are daylight bulbs. Blue light is required for foliage growth and red light for flowering. For starting from seed, the Daylight bulb spectral output best matches the plants needs (PAR) http://imageshack.us/a/img560/3693/daylightcflcurve.jpg . Standard warm white bulbs don't have sufficient light in the lower blue wavelengths http://imageshack.us/a/img543/3018/w...tecflcurve.jpg . I'm a retired optical engineer and ran spectrograph curves of most of the commercial growlights. Most commercial growlights are a waste of money.

As far as heating mats, I use twin electric blankets. I fold the blanket lengthwise and wrap in plastic to keep it dry. They work great. I'm able to fit seven trays on a blanket http://imageshack.us/a/img571/2845/223gj.jpg . One last thing. Use domes until the plants are at least 2" tall, and always bottom water http://imageshack.us/a/img683/2876/222tlw.jpg to avoid damping off.

There's a lot more to it, but the post will get to long-winded. Here's my seed starting procedures http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/G...d_starting.pdf .

Good Luck & Successful Germination http://imageshack.us/a/img543/4268/270u.jpg

Hotwired NY 5b

[Crandrew]

I use a 2 ft 4 bulb T5 system and it works great.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Hotwired

Shop lights work fine, but make sure they are daylight bulbs. Blue light is required for foliage growth and red light for flowering. For starting from seed, the Daylight bulb spectral output best matches the plants needs (PAR) http://imageshack.us/a/img560/3693/daylightcflcurve.jpg . Standard warm white bulbs don't have sufficient light in the lower blue wavelengths http://imageshack.us/a/img543/3018/w...tecflcurve.jpg . I'm a retired optical engineer and ran spectrograph curves of most of the commercial growlights. Most commercial growlights are a waste of money.

As far as heating mats, I use twin electric blankets. I fold the blanket lengthwise and wrap in plastic to keep it dry. They work great. I'm able to fit seven trays on a blanket http://imageshack.us/a/img571/2845/223gj.jpg . One last thing. Use domes until the plants are at least 2" tall, and always bottom water http://imageshack.us/a/img683/2876/222tlw.jpg to avoid damping off.

There's a lot more to it, but the post will get to long-winded. Here's my seed starting procedures http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/pdf/G...d_starting.pdf .

Good Luck & Successful Germination http://imageshack.us/a/img543/4268/270u.jpg

Hotwired NY 5b

Great info hotwired. IMO you are certainly an asset to this website.
I just now learned about wavelengths for growth from you. I was wondering why my plants got leggy even under grow lights,from HD, now I know.
-Marsha

[aclum]

Hotwired,

Great info and charts on the colors for growth and flowering!

I'm starting some seedlings that I plan to use for some grafting experiments. I've got the seeds started in seed starting mix in used stouffer's individual lasana plastic containers with holes punched in the bottom. I happened to pick up a couple of "DurableFoil Holiday Take-N-Serve" aluminum foil baking pans 13" x 9" x 2" at CVS for Thanksgiving use that I never got around to using so I took one of these to use as a tray for the seedlings. The trays come with colored snap on translucent domes that add another 3-1/2" to the height. With a little trimming the 5 souffer's containers fit perfectly into the aluminum pan with just enough room left over for a small humity indicator. The trays come with sort of a pale blue green dome. (They are also available with a red dome that I plan to get today).

So, finally, my question for you.....

I'm wondering how the color of the domes might affect the seedling growth assuming you have strong flourescent or other outside llighting. I seems that the green dome is about smack in the middle of the growth portion of your color charts. Also, I noticed that Nysen (Willus's Indoor growing project report in the Container section) had his grafted seedlings under LED grow lights were magenta. What what you be your opinion on starting my seeds under either the green dome or the red dome vs. clear?

Thanks!!
Anne